Website Development by Sprocket Websites

How violent that sounds! Perhaps we need to lighten up a bit. In our quest to put into action all the marketing books, webinars, articles and presentations available, sometimes the emphasis gets skewed. We learn about “target market” and remember words like “laser,” “zero in” and “drill down.” But do these active words produce the actions we really want?

Creative people resist having to do “business” and business people are suspicious of anything that sounds “creative.” But the most successful entrepreneurs are creative people who embrace business and business people who think creatively. Are you using both sides of your brain to give your business the best chance at success? Is your website using both sides?

Meineke used that catchphrase years ago for their mufflers, but it’s certainly been applied to many other products since then. You may say the same for your next website—and then be bitterly disappointed. Or completely satisfied. So how can you know what’s “a lot” to pay for a website?

Here’s a quick breakdown of what to consider when planning your website so your budget goes toward the options that are most important to your business.

You know how it happens – you make grand plans on New Year’s Eve to completely overhaul your health, your house, your business. You start out strong but by February, you’re losing steam and by March your grand plans are merely guilty memories.

Improving your website is a goal that will pay you back nicely this year, so don’t sabotage your efforts by biting off more than you can chew. Taking these baby steps towards improvement means you might actually accomplish your goals –encouraging you to take a few more!

Before you sign up with that Search Engine Optimization company that keeps calling  you, check to see if  you've taken these 5 simple first step. Easy to do on your own, it may give you the boost you’re looking for right now. You can always amp up your SEO with advanced professional services later.

Paying for Search Engine Optimization?
Getting what you paid for?
Wishing you could afford SEO?
Trying to do it yourself?

Or are you just ignoring the whole SEO discussion entirely?

Read on for a few simple tips that help you figure out what you have, what you need and how to make it happen.

Great Job, DNN Corp, in putting on a show!

Jim and Don represented Sprocket Websites at the DotNetNuke World Conference in Orlando last week. Immersed in Everything DNN, they were like a couple of kids at a Disney park!

While they both did some tweeting and blogging during the conference, now that they've come down from the mountain-top experience and are back in the office, Jim and Don discussed what this first all-DNN conference was like.

In honor of the Halloween season, we'd like to share some terrifying tales that happened to some perfectly ordinary business owners before they became our clients. Like any good horror story, the scariest part is that you've heard about frightening events like these happening to people you know. In fact, these horrible things could happen to you!

So turn down the brightness button on your monitor, huddle up with your marketing manager, and prepare to be terrified!

We, and many of our friends, were once fledgling entrepreneurs with huge dreams and teeny-tiny budgets. In those early days we shopped for price and bartered for services so we really empathize with the struggling start-up who comes to us asking for website assistance.

But the correct business decision would be to turn these folks away and we just couldn’t. We had to find a way to help.